In today’s modern workplace, technology has not only allowed employees to work from anywhere, but has also changed the purpose and function of some modern offices by providing different work spaces designed for different activities. As a result, employees don’t have a designated workplace but have access to a variety of areas where they can best carry out specific tasks often focused on collaboration activities. Referred to as “Activity Based Working, these areas are likely to comprise of isolated working areas, conference rooms and huddle spaces where employees from different functions can work, share ideas and solve problems collectively. Whilst ABW has unassigned seating, it differs from hot-desking in that it includes a number of other work settings, not found in traditional offices and it focuses more on the experience the employee has whilst in their office environment.Organisations rarely fully utilise their office space and typically it’s their second biggest cost. Allocating workspace to when and where employees need it and reducing energy in terms of lighting, heating and air-conditioning provide both financial and environmental gains for companies and improve sustainability, something that is important to an employer to attract and retain talent. There is some debate as to the productivity gains that can be achieved but here we are focusing on what technology can be deployed in this type of working environment rather than discussing its merits.
Experience from education sector can benefit corporates,
The education market is recognised as being leading exponents of understanding how groups can build and share knowledge, so perhaps it isn’t surprising to find companies like CTOUCH and Philips applying the lessons of developing interactive technology in education to the corporate office. Collaboration tools cannot be just about better knowledge sharing, they need to improve the speed and effectiveness of people’s efforts. The launch of the CTOUCH Leddura 2Meet solution comes at a time when ABW is becoming an important consideration for organisations who are making significant design and architectural changes to their workspaces to accommodate a shift in working style. Traditionally, meeting rooms were in a fixed location in a corporate office. Now organisations are focused on better utilisation of space to accommodate multiple collaboration spaces and meeting rooms. CTOUCH has used its experience in developing technology for high-agility classrooms to create a simple plug-and-play touch screen which can be moved around the building on wheels. The CTOUCH solution aims to support distributed working through immediate screensharing capabilities, note sharing, and integration with popular work tools such as Skype for Business. The system allows internal and external parties to screen share and annotate the screen together, which enhances the ease of remote collaboration. Interactive white boards are being deployed in a variety of industries from architects to manufacturing.
The use of collaborative technology isn’t a passing trend. IDC predicts that global sales of collaborative applications will increase from $13.3bn to 20.1bn by 2020. Millennials will make up two-thirds of the workforce by 2030 according to Forbes Magazine. They have grown up learning and adapting to new technologies. Consequently, they expect immediacy, seamless connectivity and technology that just works.
The big levers for moving to an ABW environment are collaboration and mobility. Therefore, delivering reliable technology that enables this is paramount. Notebooks and tablets rather than desktops; docking stations that support devices and monitors; IP telephony and unified communication; multi-function central printing and OCR technology to reduce paper dependency; the cloud and social networking, audio visual equipment; interactive displays; meeting room scheduling systems, wi-fi points to provide ubiquitous wireless connectivity and networking infrastructure are just some of the examples of technology that can be deployed. In addition, ABW extends to multiple sites as web conferencing allows employees to collaborate with anyone, anywhere and reduce the need for travel.
Whilst businesses embrace the need for collaborative technology, it presents a great opportunity for the channel to help organisations transition to a more modern workplace. Exertis has products and solutions across all of the technologies mentioned above, so contact your account manager for further information.
Sources & Acknowledgements: AV Magazine (Jeremy Myerson), ComputerWorld, Service Futures, TRA, IDC